Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to consumer credit and debit account information security. More particularly, the invention relates to banking card security utilizing adhesive stickers to cover the personal information on a banking card to effectively deal with the hazards of the theft of banking card information.
Background of the Invention
Credit cards, debit cards, or other forms of banking cards bearing personal and account information on the cards can become a source of identity information leaking and eventually lead to credit card fraud activities. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft activities increased 21 percent in 2008. Although incidents of credit card fraud is limited to under 1% of all card transactions, this conduct has resulted in huge multi-billion dollar financial losses and has been reported as being one of the key concerns of consumers. The industry-wide cost of bank card fraud in 2006 was 9 cents per 100 dollars worth of transactions.
A legitimate transaction to a merchant may lead to bank card fraud. The data associated with the user's account, including the card account number or other information that would routinely and necessarily be available can be compromised during a legitimate transaction, especially when the victim's card is taken outside of the cardholder's immediate view. Common scenarios of these compromises can occur in a restaurant, bar, or other retail establishments, as well as hidden devices that secretly record the account information while the card is being scanned at the checkout or at an ATM machine, and that can usually be conducted without tipping off the cardholder, the merchant or the issuer, at least until the account is ultimately used for fraud.
Various prior art patents and patent applications are directed to efforts to resolve this question. U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,858 discloses a method and system for protecting credit card account information. The disclosed system provides a credit card with a card portion displaying a first part of an account number and an electronically readable region. The credit card may also include a sleeve portion that holds the card portion and that may display a second part of an account number.
Published Patent Application No. 20090260731 discloses a smart cardholder or passport holder having two sides sealed together at three edges to leave an interior space dimensioned and configured to hold a smart card or passport. The holder sides have multiple layers, one of the layers protecting any magnetic strip on a card or the like from the dielectric material and preventing unauthorized RF remote access to the smart card chip or passport chip.
Another published Patent Application No. 20130037615 discloses a card cover that encapsulates the account numbers on a credit card, debit card, gas card, or general bank card to conceal the information for security purposes. This application discloses guard bands removable by the owner, yet reveals when someone else has tampered or attempted to tamper with the bands. These guards are designed in such a way that once removed they cannot be reaffixed to the card. An air sensitive material is layered above the adhesive to allow the cardholder to detect the change of color of the card guard when the card is compromised. The material has a clear covering allowing the material to be protected from air on top of the card, and allowing the user to see the change in color should the card be tampered with.
Despite all the teachings from the prior art references, there lacks a method or system that properly protects both embossed and non-embossed account numbers on a credit card, or instructs a sales person to check “ID”, produces a cracking to demonstrate to the cardholder that the covering layer has been removed or tampered with, and carries personalized information for the cardholder to select and provide additional aesthetic value to the user's card.